


Flowers

by phoreverphan



Series: Ficmas 2017 [8]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Cheating, Getting Together, M/M, Mentions of Sex, University, but not between dnp, uni - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 10:56:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13122303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoreverphan/pseuds/phoreverphan
Summary: Summary: Dan never talks to anyone at uni, so when he sees Phil’s boyfriend buying flowers for someone who isn’t Phil, he sends a secret note.Prompt: Dan is the quiet boy in university. He’s never seen at parties, he doesn’t speak in class, no one has ever seen him smile. When Phil walks into the campus flower shop, he finds that Dan is the clerk. Dan starts talking (slowly) and they (slowly) fall in love.





	Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> this was written for a Christmas Fic Exchange and I’m actually pretty happy with this fic, even though I wrote it really last minute. i did kinda venture off from the prompt like nothing actually happened slowly? which is like half the prompt? but it's here and it's cute so yeah pls enjoy

**Dan’s POV**

Dan was the quiet boy at university. He never drew attention to himself, never spoke in class, never attended any parties or showed any signs of having friends. No one had ever seen him smile. He was a mystery, and it made Phil sad.

Phil had been there. All through secondary school, Phil had been the weirdo with no friends. When he had gotten to uni, he had made a promise to himself that he was going to find people just as weird as him. He was going to express himself, and he was going to have fun.

This was all going well until he discovered Dan. At first, no one really noticed Dan. He didn't seem to be smart, or stupid, not interested or bored. He didn't seem to have much of a personality at all. The only thing Phil knew about him was that he looked lonely, and Phil wanted to help.

* * *

Phil had spent hours trying to think of ways to talk to Dan, but he was just so shy. Once, Phil had turned around in his seat to ask for a pen, and Dan had shied away from him, shaking his head so discreetly Phil barely noticed. At this point, Phil had all but given up. There just didn't seem to be a way to get to know Dan.

Or that's what he thought until he wandered into Towers of Flowers. It was the day before Mother's Day, and Phil was looking around, trying to find a place to buy flowers to send home to his mum.

He had googled florist on his phone, and when he had gotten to the nearest one on campus, he had found it swamped with students frantically trying to buy flowers in time. It made Phil happy, that so many people seemed to want to buy presents for their mums.

But as he had no desire to wade his way through so many of his classmates, Phil had walked to the second nearest flower shop. It looked small, and there was only one person inside. Phil supposed it was simply because the only people around here were students, and most had been too lazy to walk all the way down here.

He entered the shop, a small ringing noise emanating from the bell hung from the door. Phil looked around. It was cute. The walls were painted a very pale blue, complementing the plants nicely. He was beginning to make his way towards the display of flowers marked 50% off for Mother's Day, when a voice behind him made him jump.

"Do you need any help, sir?"

Phil turned around to speak to the man behind him, nearly gasping in surprise when he saw who it was that had spoken.

"Dan?"

Dan bit his lip, lowering his head slightly so as not to make eye contact.

Phil looked down as well, trying to figure out how to talk to Dan without scaring him. It was clear that Dan worked here, but it was surprising how much confidence he had spoken with before he knew it was Phil in the store. It made Phil wonder why, exactly, he was so quiet at uni if he wasn't as shy here.

“Sorry, nevermind, I’ll just…” Phil trailed off, deciding, reluctantly, that he need not talk to Dan today. He would just buy his flowers and get out of here.

* * *

**Dan’s POV**

Phil Lester had come into the flower shop. Phil had come in and he had seen Dan and he had heard Dan talk and  _this was not good_. When Dan had come to university, he had made a pact. He had promised himself he  _would not be outed_. He had tried being open in secondary school, and it had been hell. Now he was completely closed off at school, making sure no one could possibly no anything about him. But now, Phil Lester, who seemed like he was always staring at Dan, had seen Dan working at a  _flower shop_ , of all places, and had heard his voice. This was not good.

Dan was walking through a park with his headphones in, trying not to panic. Although Phil had looked far too eager to talk to him, he had never been approached. Maybe, just maybe this wasn’t as bad as he thought. Maybe–

ABORT! ABORT! Phil was there, in the same park as Dan, standing just 20 feet away. But wait… he was holding someone’s hand. A man’s? Yes, that definitely was a man. A tall, blonde, mature looking man wearing a leather jacket. Did that mean what Dan thought it meant? Was Phil gay? Dan looked away. There was no way to tell. Maybe that was Phil’s brother. Somehow. Anyway, it was better to think that. No point in getting his hopes up.

Yes, Dan was sure they were brothers. Except Phil had just kissed the other guy. Dan blinked. He hadn’t imagined it. They were just standing there in the middle of the park, kissing. And if they were allowed to be gay, maybe Dan would be allowed to be gay too.

* * *

Just a few days later, when Dan was working his shift in the flower store again, he was met with someone familiar.

“Hi, let me know if you need anything,” he said, not bothering to keep up his shy persona. Dan was so quiet at school, hardly anyone ever recognized him, and besides, he was pretty sure he had never seen this guy before he had seen him kissing Phil.

The guy nodded, grabbing a bouquet and bringing it to the counter to be rung up.

“So, are these for anyone in particular?” Dan found himself asking, wondering if these were for Phil or someone else. You could tell a lot about a person from what type of flowers they like, and Dan hadn’t thought to think about what flowers Phil was buying on Mother’s Day.

Phil’s boyfriend grinned and said, “Oh yeah, my girlfriend Shirley, it’s our 3 month anniversary. But don’t tell anyone. We’re trying to keep our relationship quiet, you know?”

Dan nodded, trying to keep his face from portraying his surprise. Did that mean this wasn’t Phil’s boyfriend? No, Phil had been kissing him. So what was happening? Was Phil being cheated on? Dan had to do something. He barely knew Phil, but this was a secret he couldn’t keep. And besides, if Phil broke up with his boyfriend, it meant that Dan could– no. He could not think about this. Dan rung up the guy, glaring daggers at his back as he left the shop.

* * *

**Phil’s POV**

Phil opened the door to his dorm, on the way to the first class of the morning. There was something lying in his path. He picked it up, examining it. It was a small card. On one side was a small drawing of some flowers in a vase. On the other side was a note.

_Phil–_

_It’s none of my business, but I think your boyfriend is cheating on you. He said he had been dating a girl for 3 months. This probably makes me seem like a stalker. Sorry._

Who was this from? And why did they think Henry was cheating on him? This was so weird. Looks like Phil was skipping class today.

He shut the door again, sitting down on his bed, processing the information. Phil guessed the first thing he had to do was call Henry.

“Hey, it’s me, I need to talk to you.”

Phil heard something from the other end, very muffled words.

“Hello?” Phil said into the phone, hoping Henry would realize that the phone, for some reason, wasn’t picking up the sound.

The muffled voices were clearer this time and they sounded like… sex noises? Was that–

“Ooh, Henry, baby, yes, harder.” Phil hung up the phone. It looked like the person who sent him that note was right. Phil sighed and bit his lip. Henry had been dating this girl for 3 months? That was longer than he had been dating Phil. So why had he even asked Phil out in the first place? Phil had been used, and that hurt more than the fact that he had been cheated on.

Oh well. Phil could be sad about this later. For now, he wanted to know who had sent him the note in the first place. It would have to be someone who knew him well enough to know about his relationship and to want to help him but to be unfamiliar enough that they wouldn’t sign their name. And they’d somehow have to be close enough to Henry to find out he’d been cheating.

Who could that possibly be? Phil looked at the card again, trying to find clues. The flowers on the back. It was the logo of that flower shop he had gone to the other day. The one Dan worked at.

* * *

Phil closed his laptop. He had discovered that Dan’s flower shop,  _Towers of Flowers_ , did delivery orders. He had ordered a bouquet of various yellow flowers to be delivered to his dorm tomorrow when he knew Dan would be working. If all went well, Dan would be arriving at his door with a friendship bouquet.

* * *

There was a knock at the door. Phil opened it excitedly and broke into a grin when he saw who it was.

“Hi, Dan!”

“Oh!” Dan’s breath caught in his throat a little. But wait. Phil had heard him talk. That meant he didn’t have to be shy. And besides, this was for work. Different rules applied when dealing with flowers. “Hi, Phil. I have a flower delivery for ‘PML,’ it says they’re for ‘DH.’  Do you know who they’re for.”

“Me, actually. I’m surprised you didn’t figure it out yourself, what with your anonymous note sending and all.”

This time Dan let out an audible gasp. Phil had figured him out. Dan needed to just give him the flowers and get out of here.

“Hey, relax. I bought the flowers for you. ‘DH?’ Dan Howell?”

“Yellow flowers? Really?”

“Friendship flowers. To say thank you.”

Dan smiled. Phil knew about the implications of flowers. This was amazing. Phil was amazing. How had he never talked to him before?

“You know,” Dan began, a small smirk showing on his face. “If you really wanted to thank me, you could let me take you for coffee.”

Phil’s eyes widened. Oh no. Had Dan done something wrong?

“I mean, sorry, no, we don’t have to, I know you just got out of a relationship and everything, and you bought yellow flowers for fuck’s sake, I should just–”

“Shh. Wanna go now? And then maybe I could get you some pink flowers instead.”

“Hey. I’m the flower boy. And believe me, you’ll be tired of them soon.”


End file.
